by New Year’s Eve 2016
The Christmas snows have melted away. Now on New Year’s Eve Day the world is whitening again. We are safe at home, playing very old games, some so old that we are having to relearn them to teach the younger family members. All good fun! Eldest daughter has had to stay longer for the highways are not safe, especially through the mountain passes.
May your celebrations be safe and joyful! Happy New Year, everyone! May it be a better year than 2016 has been for so many.
December 31, 2016 in Canada and BC, Culture, Current Events, Home by Marja-Leena
Wishing you and your family the very best for the New Year, my friend.
In trying times we do well to remember these words of wisdom:
“Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake”
~W.C. Fields
Thank you, dear Susan! That quote is priceless, we all had a laugh over it!
Huzzah! Happy New Year to you and your entire family, dearest Marja-Leena! May there be beauty in every day for the coming year!
Your good wishes warm my heart, Vielen Danke, dear Rouchswalwe!
Happy New Year to you and Fred and the family, enjoy the extended time together, and the board games!
Thank you, we are doing so with much laughter and groans! The snowfall ended last evening and it’s beautiful out there with sunshine, but cold. Eldest daughter left this morning and we hope the highways are clear for her. We still have our 16 year old granddaugther for a few more days and more games. Hope you and Tom are enjoying yourselves.
Thanks for the link of the Solstice-stories. There are a lot of those and more. One thing to do in the cloudy and rainy days would go into YouTube and look up the former president of Estonia. He was also a very well known ethnologist and folklorist and so there is two quite good films (digitalised in Finland in the 80’s) of his and his crew of shamanistic and other ritualistic practises in Eastern Siberia, but also in Estonia, Finland and Setumaa, which is eastern most language in Estonia. You can look up the films just using his name: Lennart Meri.
There’s also a documentary of his life. One of the documents is with English subtitles in Estonian, Finnish and other languages, the other has some problems with translation into English subtitles, so you better to have an Estonian or Finnish viewer along. But the document of him, Lennart Meri, has been compiled after his death, and is somewhat more recent and works very well. He was one of the best presidents around North Europe probably in all times.
I have seen some years ago a very good BBC documentary of Celtic peoples. That one tells also awfully many stories like this link of Solstice-stories. But I am still looking for a good overall book that would tell the history of the annual festivities. There are a lot in Finnish, but it doesn’t look like they would be translated.
Ripsa, thank you, kiitos for all this information. I know the name Lennart Meri but not about his fascinating background. I will certainly look up your suggestions. I wonder if he was partly instrumental in Estonia’s powerful Singing Revolution.
Definitely, yes! It was a fine revolution! And the people are now alright and going ahead and everything.
If you can imagine, I never been there. I did have a plan to go there with my aunt, that would’ve been sometime in the 80’s. She was fluent in Estonian and had yet some people living there she knew.
But somehow there was never time. And I think we both thought that we might not be able to move freely where we wanted to.
This digitalisation day I thought was maybe a bit too early. But at least that I know that president Meri came to Finland to be able to cut and edit his films, these two ethnological films, that is. I believe the digitalisation *did* happen here too, not so sure of the date. Maybe the films tell you that.
I am surprised you have not been there as it is so quick and easy on the fast ferry. We saw a lot of Finns using it. My husband and I went in 2002 after the three person exhibition in Vaasa with two other Canadians (friends). One of them knew a printmaker in Tallinn and we four met him and his wife, also an artist, spending a lovely two or three days there. We stayed in a hotel but spent much time with them going to exhibitions and walking about the old town. Somewhere on my blog I have written about them…. oh, here it is.
Back to the Singing Revolution – I had seen the fantastic video online done of that a few years ago, but later could not find it anymore, only a DVD to purchase. So, I am looking forward to learning more about Meri’s work, thanks to you.
Dropping by via Susan now and then, sometimes I felt like leaving at least a short com(pli)ment.
Alas, the procrastination.
But now. 🙂
Onnelista uutta voutta!
[No, no, my Finnish is less than rudimental. 🙂 ]
Welcome! A friend of Susan’s is a friend of mine, as they say. Thanks for the Finnish greetings, and for the Dinner for One posting on your blog – that is a long time favourite! Onnellista Uutta Vuotta, Sean.
Thanks for the welcome and for your good wishes and en passant most discreetely give a hint for correctly spelling ‘vuotta’.
And ‘Dinner for One’ is a long time favourite of yours? I thought it was but cult in Germany.
Last not least for tonight, and before I do forget: Not seldom, when visiting your blog, my eyes do like what they see and read.
The peace of the night.
Sean, “Dinner for One’ was featured by some blogger several years ago and since then I watch it every year. I was surprised to learn that it’s a cult thing for Sylvestre (New Year’s Eve) in Germany, even my German husband did not know that. (Of course he hasn’t lived there since a kid.)
Thanks again for your kind words and for visiting. I’ll be by soon when life settles down here.
Happy New Year to you and yours! No snow here in the Boston area – and we are not complaining. Wishing you a healthy and creatively inspired 2017.
Thank you! Leslee, no snow?… that is a sweet break from the huge one last (?) year! We are very cold here, the snow has not all melted this time, the roads are icy in places, but oh, it is so pretty especially when the sun shines on the mountains. All the best of joys to you in this fresh New Year!
A glad new year to you and yours–family and “old games” sound marvelous and cosy. I look forward to the dreams you dream in 2017….
Marly, thanks, I hope you and your family had the same. Lovely words about looking forward to dreams!
Happy New Year to you both, Marja-Leena! I’m not one for making resolutions, but I’m hoping to do more blog reading, and therefore commenting, on my computer this year rather than my phone. I’m so glad that you continue to blog here and share your images and thoughts. Yes, may 2017 be a better year for the world.
Thank you and the same to you both, Beth! I don’t make resolutions either but I hope to get back to blogging more regularly, to stop being so lazy about writing. I enjoy the commenting, the connections that we make through this medium.
I just read about the freezing temperatures you continue to have there along with tons of ice on the streets and everywhere else, I presume. I hope you’re well stocked with essentials and can thus plan to stay safely indoors until the thaw – which ought to come soon.
Take care, my friend.
ps: It was neat to see Sean has been by to visit 🙂
Yes, dear Susan, we keep getting these snowfalls that partially thaw then freeze. More snow coming over the next few days, they say. The cities’ maintenance crews don’t have enough people to clear sidewalks (which are supposed to be shoveled by the property owners by the way). Roads, it seems, have greater priorities than sidewalks. Elders are stuck in their homes. We live in the ‘burbs’ with no sidewalks so we share (??) the roads. As for food etc. we are well stocked so don’t worry, being closer to sea level here we don’t get as much snow and are able to get to stores. Now I have to go out and look for the newspaper which was not at our door, and may be in the bushes, tossed there by a driver afraid to get out of his car. Exciting times!
It was indeed neat to meet Sean via your blog! Happy days to you!